Final Countdown: Zac Veen sent to AAA on Sunday as Black announces the roster is set

The final Sunday of spring training saw the Colorado Rockies lose in shutout fashion to the Milwaukee Brewers.

That wasn’t of any concern to Rockies’ fans however. Instead, the big news Sunday was manager Bud Black announcing that the 25-man opening day roster has been set, and the biggest shockwave was top prospect Zac Veen being left off the roster. 

Veen was in a final battle with Nick Martini and Sam Hilliard for one last outfield spot. Veen’s prospects to make the roster looked better on Saturday when the Rockies traded away Nolan Jones in a surprise move. But it wasn’t to be, as the Rockies held on to Martini and Hilliard, both of whom have big-league experience, while Veen, the No. 8 prospect in the organization will begin the year at AAA Albuquerque. 

Veen did have a really good spring, batting .279 with two home runs and 11 RBIs. Veen’s talent in center field is also undeniable, and he had several highlight catches in Cactus League play.  But, with players like Martini and Jordan Beck trending in the right direction over the last week, and Kris Bryant still being in the outfield plans as well, there just wasn’t room for the talented Veen on the big-league roster.

“He will go to Triple-A to hone his skills,” Black said of Veen per MLB.com. “Last year in Triple-A, Zac had 90 plate appearances, and actually Zac only had 270 plate appearances in the Minor Leagues last year. Zac hit .220 in Triple-A and there are still some things he needs to focus on. The strikeout rate was a little high here, facing Major League pitchers in Arizona. Zac realizes that it’s probably a little more time needed in the Minors before he potentially gets an opportunity. Hopefully, he’ll force that by how he plays.”

The announcement was the second one regarding top prospects in as many days. On Saturday star pitcher Chase Dollander was also reassigned to AAA.

Veen was the last question mark of all the prospects, and now we all know the answer. The roster will likely feature Beck in left, star Brenton Doyle in center and Martini in right, with Hilliard backing them up.

The infield will feature Michael Toglia at first, for now, Kyle Farmer and Tyler Freeman (who also plays outfield) at second, Ezequiel Tovar at short and Ryan McMahon at third. Bryan will DH and play some right field and some first, while Jacob Stallings and Hunter Goodman will do the catching. Thairo Estrada will rejoin the team when he recovers from a major wrist injury, and that will change the roster some as well.

For now though, the position players, and a four-man rotation (until Austin Gomber comes off IL in early April) is set in stone, though it won’t be officially announced until the Rockies arrive in Tampa Bay for Friday’s opener. 

But what is official is Zac Veen starting the season in the minor leagues. And that’s yet another sign that for now, Black and GM Bill Schmidt just don’t want a young Rockies’ roster to get any younger, at least to start the season, and Veen would have made them younger. So for now, Veen is another of the many young stars like Dollander, Adeal Amador, Drew Romo, Cole Carrigg and Yanquiel Fernandez, who will be in AAA, and while I’m sure they’re all disappointed, Albuquerque fans should be pumped, because the Isotopes will be loaded when the season opens next week.

Extra Notes: Dollander made his final start of the spring on Sunday, and struggled against the Brewers, giving up six hits, five runs and two homers. He did strike out six. The Rockies (17-13) host the Brewers again on Monday at 1:10 p.m.

https://roxpile.com/colorado-s-zac-veen-looks-every-bit-the-part-of-a-big-league-outfielder

https://roxpile.com/chase-dollander-being-sent-down-signals-the-rockies-aren-t-ready-to-gamble-2025-success-on-youth

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